Peter Viney's Blog

They are roughly in order from best downward in each star category.

Every play is linked to my original review.

This year I’m not doing Best Actor / Best Actress / Best Supporting Actor & Actress. I really can’t remember this many productions well enough to be fair. I will mention some that come to mind.

Shakespeare and pre-20th century

BEST & WORST PRODUCTIONS

5 star

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Royal Shakespeare Company

We were delighted that they re-instated the RSC / Globe dance ending … here at the end of Pyramus and Thisbe, with Rosie Sheehy at the centre as in King John. Overall a resounding 5. It joins the 5 star Dream club.

Love’s Labours Lost, Royal Shakespeare Company

Those who rate the play highly always cite the quality of the verse, with Berowne getting the best share of it. Luke Thompson is the star name (because of Bridgerton) but he’s served his Shakespeare apprenticeship at the Globe and the Almeida. His verse speaking is to my taste- he has thought about every line and how to bring meaning to it with pauses and timing. I’m getting generous with stars but it’s hard to see why you’d take one off the five, except that both of us are in the ‘lesser play’ camp rather than the ‘exquisite poetry’ camp, so I think the intrinsic play is an incredible struggle to get to four stars (though others think it one of his greatest). This is the first RSC production in years with no gender switching. It’s also missing the actor signing Shakespeare’s words and there’s no one in a wheelchair. I hope this is a sign of the new regime. However, on reflection, there are already five good female roles. You couldn’t switch the four main men, Costard and Armado are both the candidates for Jaquenetta’s pregnancy, and Boyet has to comment on women. However, you probably could switch Moth, Dull or Mercade and they didn’t.

As You Like It, Royal Shakespeare Company, Holloway Garden Theatre

“What about the critics? “Anyone who gives this less than four doesn’t like theatre. It is NOT all Hamlet and Lear. The thing is, you judge open air comedy as just that, open air comedy. In that category? Five stars. Then you don’t rate it against Ibsen and Chekhov, you rate it against other As You Like It productions. We got soaked.It was uncomfortable. We enjoyed and treasured every minute of it. There was no point were it dropped below total attention. Not a single actor dropped the baton. So on that basis? Five stars.”

The Importance of Being Earnest, National Theatre

Every other year this play would have been in modern, but it is an English classic, so put it with the classics, this year just Shakespeare and Sheridan.  The ecstatic reviews say it … a triumphant colourful and hilarious revival of the greatest comedy. It’s playing until the end of January 2025. It’s expensive. It’s worth every penny. One of the best productions of 2024.

4 star
Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare’s Globe

All in all, a wonderfully entertaining version, with every cast member clear, loud, and excellent.
I don’t know why, well maybe I do, it is intrinsic to the play, but the second half (Acts IV and V) dropped the mood just a tad. It is the switch to serious, with the Watch interspersed and taking the humour. It felt flatter, as it can do. Much of that was beyond their control. Part one had seen a nearly full Pit with so many school kids. That gives atmosphere. But the ones in the pit all left in the interval. Why? Buses to catch? These were the head-scarfed ones … teachers thought it unsuitable? I’ll never know. Suddenly the pit looked much emptier. That impacted on the mood. It looked ‘Where has everyone gone?’

Much Ado About Nothing, The Watermill

This is a Hollywood version, taking place on a film set in the golden age of movies. A similar idea was used by Headlong for A Midsummer Night’s Dream a dozen years ago. It works particularly well for the Dream as you already have a director (Quince) and actors. They’re filming Where the Wild Thyme Blows so the four lovers are actors in that film, dressed in classical Greek costume (Athenian garb). It’s an intriguing idea anyway, and the 1940s music fits. As my twin passions are theatre and the golden age of Hollywood it’s a perfect match. Actually, it wears the concept mainly at a visual level.It’s hard to rate. Five star for entertainment and energy, but I guess we should reserve a full five for something on a somewhat grander scale. So:

The Merry Wives of Windsor, Royal Shakespeare Company

“The trouble with the play, and it happens every time, is that it is so natural to set it in the present day. That works superbly right up until you’re confronted with the night time Herne The Hunter scene and dancing faeries. The best they got away with it at the RSC was when they set it as at Halloween, giving sense to the masks for the cast. It’s an essential scene too as it resolves the Anne Page suitors plot. Here we had a complex oak tree descend, we had green neon lit masks on the faeries, but it still stands out as jarring with the rest of the play. We also thought it lost the pace just before the Herne scene started and in the early part. The thing about pace and cutting is that my companion, Karen, believes every comedy could be improved by cutting. In our years of writing video comedy scripts together, the script editors would politely suggest I make coffee while Karen wielded the scalpel if a vignette looked like over-running. Here I think she was right and that a few cuts here and there might enliven the end. The RSC dance ending is a tradition. It sounded great. I looked up. Three horn players. Eight musicians altogether. Yet for the Herne dance sequence they had one wailing horn and a drum. In retrospect, they under-used the musicians.  Yes, wonderful, Not perfect in every aspect though.”

The School for Scandal by Sheridan, Royal Shakespeare Company

Visually stunning, but a four rather than a five. Though it’s a six for wigs. I’d love to see it at the end of its summer run. I suspect it may have gained an extra one. I was surprised to see Arica Akbar’s two star Guardian review, though along with The Times, she can often be lower in stars than the others. She points out that the comedy lacks snap. To a degree she’s right on comic timing, but it’s not intrinsically snappy dialogue. You can’t hit the humour that way, and they compensate visually. There is a little too fast delivery as she notes, which long speeches can fall into. When I’ve seen productions twice, I find that this happens near the start of the run, as here, when speed aids line memory. When I’ve seen the same production a couple of months later, the weight and space often has changed.

3 star

Pericles, Prince of Tyre, Royal Shakespeare Company

“It was brave to choose the play. It was significant to make style, tableaux and mime a key feature. It looks beautiful. As at the Wanamaker, they decided not to draw any parallels with people travelling around between Lebanon (Tyre), Syria (Antioch is on the border), Turkey (Tarsus, Ephesus), Lesbos (the modern name for Mytilene) and Libya (Pentapolis). Then getting shipwrecked and losing relatives for years. It’s an obvious possibility. Too obvious perhaps. If I were doing the programme, I’d put a map with the route.
In the end, it is an atypical play, and definitely a lesser one, especially in George Wilkins’ first two acts.” 

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Everyman Theatre on tour

We both thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it and laughed out loud. We loved it. It’s well-pitched for the sort of tour where you hope to bring in large school parties too – fart jokes but no Bottom donkey’s appendage jokes. We were so pleased that if we’d been free tomorrow afternoon, we’d have gone again. On star ratings? It’s superb at what it aims to do. Obviously if you’re going for genuine shimmering magic and studied and careful presentation of the verse, those are not its strong points. Nothing wrong with that. However, when I consider the five star productions I’ve seen (Peter Brooks, The Bridge, RSC Play for A Nation, Emma Rice at The Globe, RSC 2024) I’m going to have to be strict. It’s three star, but the very top end of three star and really a fun evening out.

Othello, Royal Shakespeare Company

“I thought by eschewing any overt onstage violence, they were totally missing the point of the play. It is about the extreme violence of the thwarted, jealous male towards women. Watch the TV news for a week. There will inevitably be a woman and her children murdered somewhere. The police initial report will be ‘the perpetrator was known to them.‘ A thwarted ex-partner. Sometimes it’s an honour killing within a culture. Or as I prefer, murder. Yes, Iago provokes Othello, but a normal male would not be driven to murder. Othello’s violence is innate. He is a military general. Sanitize the violence and you undermine the play. The tragedy is not the descent of Othello into mad rage. That’s who he is. It’s the murder of Desdemona. Not my thing. I wondered why they needed such a large cast. There is a bold concept, and it’s followed consistently, and the RSC should be able to try different styles. I admit the acting quality forces a three star review. Only just.”

one star
The Taming of The Shrew, Shakespeare’s Globe

“What it displays is sheer terror of doing the actual play. Is this version funny? Not at any point. It’s like late post-Goons Spike Milligan cackling at his own absurd jokes. It’s like the unfunny bits of Frank Zappa (sometimes it works, sometimes it’s just silly). Shakespeare never needed anyone to invent comedy for him. Intrinsically, the three suitors, young Lucentio from Pisa, and the two older men, Hortensio and Gremio are very funny without any daft additions. The arrival at Petruchio’s house at the start of the second half is usually good comedy. These are good scenes in themselves. Having Grumio struggling with an inflatable column of supposed fire isn’t funny. Here the scenes are a garbled mess. There is an idea on teaching music with doh, re, me, fah, so that breaks into song. It would be obvious to break into Do-Re-Mi from The Sound of Music. Different tune. I suspect the Globe was reluctant to pay.Does it need stating? The Taming of The Shrew is a play ABOUT misogyny. Just as The Merchant of Venice is a play ABOUT anti-Semitism. If you don’t like the play, don’t do it. If you don’t like it, don’t do it and try to subvert it.
In two words, Pretentious tripe. I think it’s the most misconceived and pretentious thing I have seen in many years”

Modern

5 star

The Hills of California, by Jez Butterworth, Harold Pinter Theatre London

Jez Butterworth. Directed by Sam Medes. It has major themes (assisted dying, sexual abuse, abortion). It has superb songs, old as they are. It has a first rate dance number (in contrast to the musical we saw the night before, which had no dance). It is very funny indeed. Then the sheer drama of the end of Act Two is edge of the seat thrilling. The end has pathos. What is there not to like? It didn’t get the instant standing ovation I expected. It deserved it. However, you can easily milk that on curtain calls and they didn’t. It would not have fitted the mood they created.

Redlands by Charlotte Jones, Chichester Festival Theatre

“A play with music” rather than a musical. The story of the Rolling Stones bust. Overall? A definitive five star play.

The Deep Blue Sea, by Terence Rattigan, Bath Ustinov Studio

We booked this because Tamsin Grieg was in it … Episodes being one of my all-time favourite sitcoms. Then it was delayed, and we got exchange tickets at the end of the run instead. Then we saw that the wonderful Oliver Chris was in it too. They’ve worked together before in The National Theatre’s Twelfth Night. There was a sense of disbelief that such a cast was in the tiny Ustinov. We couldn’t really fault it. We tried hard to think of one on the drive home too. Then we thought of one! In Act 3 it’s between 11 pm and 12 pm. The light outside the windows is unchanged grey sky. It should be either dark, or weak yellow street light!  We were into discussing what happened to these people next. We decided that Hester WOULD go off to art school after the play and at the end of her course, be one of the early beatniks. Poor Freddie, judgment still impaired, would meet his death as a test pilot in a crash in Brazil.  5 star, But, better than other 5 star versions of the play!

A View From The Bridge by Arthur Miller, Theatre Royal Haymarket

Another originated at Bath Ustinov, though we saw it in London. What a cast! Dominic West as Eddie Carbone. A favourite play. An all-time favourite too. Recently, as London hotel prices and West End ticket prices spiral ever higher, and trains get disrupted, and car parks spiral too, we begin to question whether it’s worth the time, money and effort. I have declined press invitations too. We pay. Then you see an incredible production like this. We walked out of the theatre. Karen said ‘That defines five stars. It is the most realistic version we’ve ever seen.‘ I agreed. I would add the best in every role too.

The Buddah of Suburbia, adapted bt Emma Rice from Hanif Kureishi, Royal Shakespeatre Company

It has the Emma Rice hallmarks. We were excited to see Emma Rice at the RSC (rather than ‘the other Shakespeare specialist theatre’) and more so by the addition of three actors from her 2016 A Midsummer Night’s Dream at The Globe. It has the exuberance of RSC productions at their best. Everyone in the cast shines. I’ll go for five, though I think it could be tightened and 10 minutes cut to good effect. It meanders towards the end when Karim and Charlie are living together which drops the mood and the pace.

The Other Boleyn Girl, by Mike Polulton (after Phillipa Gregory) Chichester Festival Theatre

We thought the cast was solid. Not a weak spot. Lighting, costume, direction … and especially music … were all five star. I have heard in the past that Mantel’s tale is BBC2 / Channel 4 in appeal, Philippa Gregory’s is BBC1 prime time 9 pm Sunday evening. There’s nothing wrong with being popular. Compliments to Chichester on another lobby display, this time on Tudor costumes from productions.

The Caretaker, by Harold Pinter, Chichester Minerva Theatre

The second 5 star play here directed By Justin Audibert, Chichester’s new artistic director. In 2016, I thought the acting was superb, but the play itself creaked. It creaked far less this time. Times have changed. We’re now familiar with homeless people in shop doorways all over the town centre. Boarded up shops in crumbling malls. The times have caught up with the play again. The style of the production augurs well for Justin Audibert’s new regime at Chichester.

The Importance of Being …Earnest? Southampton MAST on tour

Embarrassing. Audience participation meant I was hauled on stage half way and cast as Cecily after a cast member allegedly disappeared. So over to Karen for comment and rating. She said the atmosphere in the audience was great, with everyone rooting for the volunteers (I won’t say why, but the “real” Ernest was marvellous when he turned up). Even though only a few of us participated she said it felt that the whole audience were drawn into feeling they were with us. People were roaring with laughter. Rating? Five stars from Karen (Personally, I’d give more, but five is the highest and Karen explained very slowly and carefully that I wasn’t allowed to rate it, and no I couldn’t award myself as Cecily the actress of the year). Lovely people came and spoke to me afterwards too. We had a photo in the lobby afterwards (without frock and wig). At Chichester a few weeks later, people approached me to comment. One set was sure I was a “plant” rather than an audience member. I wasn’t.

4 star

The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck, adapted Frank Galati, National Theatre

he sheer scale gives it a Brechtian edge (without monologues fortunately). It moves faster in Act two than in the longer Act one, naturally. The sets are denser in Act Two which pulls the viewer in- it’s hard to do open prairie and desert by just showing a huge pink rectangle as sky in Act one. When projection has become SO ubiquitous nowadays, I’m surprised they didn’t project the land but then for long distance there is little to see. A starry sky wouldn’t have gone amiss. There is a LOT of sky when you’re out in the South-Western USA. The lighting plot leaves much of it semi-dark, half lit throughout. It worked for me, but it is gloomy and dark, as you will see from the photos. Those criticizing it tend to like the music. The opening full cast gospel was brilliant, as was the square dance music. It is long, but NOT the three hours that Dominic Maxwell complains about in The Times. We were outside and walking away in less than two hours fifty. It was never dull either. The first half suffers from somewhat choppy shifts between scenes. Too much is happening to get involved closely with the character, which is why it feels ‘epic.’ The thing is that it builds. The tragedies pile up, and we move into more action and get to know the characters. I thought the strobe lit slow motion violence worked. I like the fact that the emotion piles on steadily and increasingly to the utterly stunning ending. Of course it’s at least four stars. Acting, set, lights, direction. I’m tossing up whether it’s four or five. Not quite five.

A Chorus of Disapproval by Alan Ayckbourn, Salisbury Playhouse

 It’s a play within a play, as it is the Pendon Amateur Light Operatic Society’s production of The Beggar’s Opera. It’s many years since I saw The Beggar’s Opera, and I wish I’d reminded myself of the plot on Wikipedia first – incidentally, something the programme could (should?) have done … The play is far more theatrically exuberant than I expect from Ayckbourn … you don’t expect song and dance. It’s one of his best, for me. Then the characters are stereotypes, but well-drawn and funny and very well cast here. Great set and costume.

One Last Push by Chris Chibnall, Salisbury Playhouse

One Last Push is a comedy. A theatre full of people went out smiling with a happy buzz. It’s hard to review without plot-spoiling. There is a high level of technical stagecraft here: complex jokes involving the set which might have been unthinkable (and impossible) before the Play That Goes Wrong series. The acting in this sort of comedy requires precision timing, and precision blocking and positioning. It got it. There was a mild issue with set stunts being telegraphed, but then they had a ‘double whammy’ which wasn’t. I’ll say no more. OK, we loved it, and so did the audience in general. Let’s nit-pick some criticisms though. In Act One, Jen has the same routine of getting furiously angry in the same way three times … Mark, Dave, Eileen. A little more variation would help. I got Come on Eileen instantly from Dave stomping on the floor. Not everyone did. They need to let the chorus run a bit more whenever it appears and let the punch line stand out.

English by Sanaz Toosi, The Other Place, The RSC Stratford-upon-Avon

To our great surprise, the play has absolutely nothing to say on the Iranian Islamic revolution, the position of women in Iran today, the rule of the Ayatollahs. The writer is Iranian-American, and the themes of cultural identity, the negatives for some people of the spread of English, the loss even of your name, could apply to many hyphenated Americans. The play could have been set in Turkey, Egypt, South Korea, The Philippines or anywhere else with a significant diaspora. To a degree, the play avoids the issues of Iran in the 2020s entirely. That’s a fault, or a missed opportunity in one way. In another, it’s a positive in that we see Iran not as an aggressive place with religious police in every doorway, but as “normal” or “just like us.” See the two girls above. In the end I liked that. I liked the theme of cultural identity. I believed in all the actors. The direction is fluid. The set looks real. I feel I’ve been in that room. The Other Place is a great venue too.

The Promise by Paul Unwin, Chichester Minerva Theatre

We were expecting it to be didactic, preachy and dull. It was none of these. The negative reviewers didn’t like the arguing and shouting. Bless! That’s reality in a bunch of competitive, committed individuals who have climbed to the top of the greasy political ladder. No, they won’t be friends. Always remember John Humphries advice to interviewers on all politicians. He told them they had to keep at the front of their minds, ‘Why is this bastard lying to me?’ We thought it a compelling view. We also found it truthful.

FOOTNOTE: We discussed this so much in the months since we saw it, that I’d almost add a fifth star.

The Constituent by Joe Penhall, The Old Vic London

James Corden and Anna Maxwell-Martin. In spite of five star acting acting the intrinsic play lacks the theatricality or variety for more than four stars.

2:22 A Ghost Story, by Danny Robins, Chichester Festival Theatre

The attraction for us was not the many awards it’s garnered, but ‘Directed by Matthew Dunster.’ That was enough to want to see it. No wonder the play continues to run. It’s very good, and the ever-changing cast only goes to prove the depth of the well of acting talent in British theatre. It’s also VERY conventional (plus all the latest light and sound stuff). I like that. I like French windows even when they’re patio doors. I was in whodunits at youth club. I went to Butlins twice with a friend and the Redcoats did a whodunit and a farce alternately through the week. I preferred seeing them repeated to being threatened in the bars. I mentioned this to Karen, who said (acidly, I felt) that the Redcoats had clearly inspired my own acting style. It is excitingly hair raising, though never gory or gruesome.

Three star

Princess Essex by Ann Odeke, Shakespeare’s Globe

“The cast had worked their socks off to make it work in a near empty space. They never let energy flag. The audience responded. We all worked our socks off too with deserved massive applause for their efforts. A tremendous noise from such a small number of us. It’s hard to judge. I would rate Anne Odeke more highly as a personality than as an accomplished actor. She is a touch too shouty, but she knows how to work an audience. Her writing is full of Essex accent … nuffink, suffink, ain’t. I felt the script was on shaky ground when she wanted characters like Mrs Bugle to speak RP and it came out as over-the-top pantomime posh. Acting is ‘broad.’ I can see it as four stars to a packed and responsive house. Costume design was 5 star for me. Programme essays too. In spite of their very hard work, the actual overall experience in the extremely sparse audience on this night was only two stars. There will have been dress rehearsals with that many around. So I’ll balance it at three. Is this the fault of the artistic director? Shakespeare fills the theatre. New material manifestly doesn’t, unless, like Nell Gwynne it is reasonably near the period. Isn’t the clue in the name? Shakespeare’s Globe.”

The Coram Boy by Helen Edmundson, Chichester Festival Theatre

On reading the text, much of the dialogue is trite. It betrays the origin as a children’s story. There’s a tribute to the actors and director, because it’s much triter in cold print than it ever seemed on stage. They made it work. Yes, we were pleased we saw it. It’s full of movement and music. The cast are excellent and we liked the fact that there were so many new faces there, and the juveniles were superb. It goes on to Salford after Chichester too.  However, it IS confusing and the plot creaks quite severely at times. Overall? ***

Summer of 1954: Terence Rattigan. Table Number 7 / The Browning Version, Bath Theatre Royal

Table Number 7:
I found it difficult to judge, as the 2014 version was so very good as was the TV play. This is not quite in the same class and I felt it slightly pedestrian.It wins because the acting is good and the lines say it all anyway, but the direction was unexciting to us.
***
The Browning Version
The set lets it down somewhat. The power of the text surmounts that. Nathaniel Parker is five star. We’re in the first week of a tour. Both plays should loosen up and the stiffness we detected should dissipate. However, when seats are full price, a production can’t ask for bedding-in time.
***

The New Real by David Edgar, Royal Shakespeare Company, The Other Place

Three stars is an average: The play was fine, the way the Other Place wass et up was horrendous, and it was chaotic.

PLAY / ACTING ****
SANDWICH STAGING / APPALLING RSC ORGANIZATION (most unusually) *

The Birthday Party by Harold Pinter, Bath Ustinov

The acting is very powerful from everyone. No question. In the Ustinov, in Row D you really are just like being across a room from them and the effect is visceral. It’s a major play. The acting quality reflected that. I didn’t like the set, the costumes, or the “too Beckett” directing style of it. The 2018 production won in every department.

The Lover / The Collection by Harold Pinter, Bath Ustinov Studio

The Lover:
The play is intrinsically past its ‘Best Before’ date. Great director, great set and costume, superb acting, but the Pinter contribution is the problem. I don’t suppose he saw it as more than a short, sharp ITV play with a more adult theme than usual. What a shame given the cast. For a supposed ‘comedy’ a few titters don’t count.

The Collection:
This is a far better play than The Lover. It has drama, menace, comedy, intrigue, mystery. It is so well-performed. Being that close to the actors is a treat. I think the critical consensus on three stars is correct, because I’d give The Lover two stars, and The Collection four stars. Overall: 3

The Circle by Somerset Maugham, Bath production, at Chichester on tour

Jane Asher is in it. Olivia Vinall is Elizabeth, fresh-faced, enthusiastic, only to be drawn into arguments she had hoped to avoid. One of the advantages of poor memory, is that I had no recall of the ending and her eventual decision, so the ‘Will she? Won’t she?’ aspect remained a mystery right to the end. That enhanced our enjoyment.

(Re-reading my review. I gave it four on 1st February. It was still early in the year. Comparatively with what followed, it’s a three at most).

Ben & Imo by Mark Ravenhill, Royal Shakespeare Company

I don’t like plays with casts of two. I don’t like opera. This sounded weak BUT … it really worked. Acting direction is first rate, though in a couple of sequences, I thought those few at the side on stage right would have been looking at backs for a long time. Fortunately we were central. As time went on, I realised it’s very well-written. I also noticed the use of emphatic shall / shan’t (as in You shan’t …)which is designed to give a sense of the period.  Overall? Karen, ever into acting reckons an easy four star. Me? Ever into production, would give the actors five, but the intrinsic play three, and the production decision to stage it in The Swan, just one. Plus it was ludicrously over-priced but after much discussion… it wasn’t ‘theatrical’ enough for me for a four, but it is very good.

Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks, adapted by Rachel Wagstaff, Salisbury Playhouse

This is week one out of seventeen. They need to work on sound and projection. Performance was a little stiff generally, but that should ease in quickly. The thing is, it’s a big production. And you can see it somewhere near you. I’m being mean, I believe it will improve, but three stars.

The Hot Wing King by Katori Hall, Dorfman Theatre, National Theatre

We didn’t like the play as much as the rest of the audience seemed to. When it veered into serious exploration of Cordell’s issues over leaving his family, the fraught gay relationships, it was too much soul baring. Too much Casualty or Eastenders. To much chest-beating angst. There were some awful lines. ‘I’d whisper your name to the dark night of death’ and there are worse. At the end of Act One, the beginning and end of Act two, Katori Hall decides to wax poetic, and the lines are trite but posing as deeply meaningful. There are indeed bright and lively comedy sections, but there are also heavy tedious sections. It doesn’t know whether it’s a comedy, sentimental romance or a study of father-son relationships. It’s definitely 30 minutes too long for its plot and content. This is not the first time I’ve found a Pulitzer Prize winning play below par. It may be the last. I’ll see the prize as a warning to avoid a play in future. American playwrights wear the message, the meaning on their sleeves too prominently.  Is this harsh? I reckon if you kept the comedy plot, switched the central relationship to heterosexual, and the characters to white, the applause would fade right away. The NT bookshop has a large section labelled ‘Global majority.’ It’s next to the large ‘LGBT’ section. This ticks both section boxes. The far superior Grapes of Wrath the next day did not get that sort of applause.

1984 by George Orwell, adapted Ryan Craig, Bath Theatre Royal

Poor sound detracted for us. It knocks off a star. I still recommend catching it on tour (see dates below). Poole Lighthouse, for example, has better sound in the auditorium than the Bath Theatre Royal. It’ s powerful. If you know the book very well, the plot changes made by Ryan Craig are fascinating and well thought through.

The Cat & The Canary by John Willard, adapted Carl Grose, Chichester Minerva

“In the end, in spite of the energy and efforts, I’ll go for three stars. It’s a romp, but tries just a little too hard to be funny, and when you do that, a relentless edge creeps in. It was a great evening of entertainment though, I’d see it again.”

Kyoto by Joe Murphy and Joe Robertson, Royal Shakespeare Company

I thought the play itself confusing and at times preachy. The problem is that ‘not liking it’ is like saying ‘I’m a climate denier’ and no one I know would want to say that. Are we applauding the play, or are we applauding the sentiment? Overall? Act one two star. Act two three star. Karen’s rating was lower.

2 star

The House Party, by Laura Lomas, Chichester Minerva

Adapted from Strindberg’s Miss Julie.

I felt the added scenes were an attempt to make it long enough to stand alone rather than as part of a two one act play evening, as in 2014.  Overall? One of the very rare failed productions at Chichester. Let’s hope the blame lies with co-producer Headlong, not Chichester. I’m surprised because Holly Race Roughan directed a splendid A View From The Bridge at Chichester last year, and another resuscitated Scandinavian play, Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler changed to Hedda Tesman in 2019.

Musicals

Five star

Oliver! by Lionel Bart, Chichester Festival Theatre

Overall, it was a supreme musical. Every year at the Chichester summer musical, we think this can’t be bettered. Every year they either equal or top the one before. A definitive 5 star.

The Rocky Horror Show, on tour, Bath Theatre Royal

Starring Jason Donovan. we hadn’t realised what an event productions had become.

“It’s directed by Christopher Luscombe, and if we’d known that, we’d have booked it on that alone. Yhe band are above the stage. The sound for mic’d performers and rock band is as good as you can get – and Bath Theatre Royal is not an easy venue to get right. It was as good as Chichester Festival Theatre, which is our benchmark. The lighting incorporates lasers and is rock concert state of the art. So much effort has been poured into every aspect.”

Four star

Play On! by Talawa Company, Salisbury Playhouse

A jazz musical adapting the broad storyline of Twelfth Night to Duke Ellington’s music.

“We discussed the energy and enthusiasm on the way home. Is it presumptuous to say an all-black theatre company may find it a little odd playing to an audience entirely composed of older white folks? There’s a hint of the issue earlier in the play text when they discuss being a ‘negro’ performing at The Cotton Club. It was a matinee. We didn’t see any people of colour in the audience. The audience loved it, and I’d guess older white folks are more likely to have prized Duke Ellington collections at home than younger black folks. Still, they have done Coventry and Liverpool, and have Birmingham, Bristol and Hammersmith (a full month) to come. I think there will be a wider audience profile then. I’m delighted that Salisbury put it on, and also for two weeks.”

Three star

Blue Beard by Emma Rice, Bath Theatre Royal

Emma Rice has reimagined the Perrault folk tale of Blue Beard from 1697. The style is pure Watermill. i.e. Watermill Theatre Newbury. So a musical. Every actor plays an instrument, though at least three played bass. They switch back and forth and they’re all very good. My guess is that they cast it and then do the arrangements that suit what the cast can play. Wildly inventive, highly theatrical. It needs a tweak ad polish after this initial runthough. Three stars *** (but I believe they’ll tweak it and it’ll be more by the time you see it. It wouldn’t need much to add a couple)

To star

Opening Night by Ivo Van Hove, Gielgud Theatre, London

Starring Sheridan Smith. Overall? I suspect van Hove erroneously believed we might know the film he loves so much. No, it is obscure. The fault is all his in not transferring it with clarity to a stage musical. The cast are all very good indeed. The music is pretty good. The singing is fabulous. It is always worth watching the sheer magnetism of Sheridan Smith on stage. It looks dull and drab. Awful set and costume design. The video should be used to purpose. It isn’t. But sorry, the adaptation fails. The scripted dialogue is patchy with some poor sections. All down to Van Hove too, no reflection on the talented performers. So two stars.

Dance Theatre

5 star

Edward Scissorhands, Southampton Mayflower

Romance, action with the bullying and fight, sadness … it ticks every box. I’m not qualified to judge the dancing, but my companion assures me it was of the very highest order. We were too far away to judge whether we saw the cast who are in the photos. I believe quality control is such that it will be consistent. The end wasn’t just a standing ovation, it was a massive ‘roar’ as well then whistling and cheering. So like every national review, five star.

NO STAR RATINGS (I’M NO JUDGE)

Metamorphoses, Bath Ustinov Studio

It is a short powerful evening – many companies would have added another interval and a third piece. Still, never mind the width, feel the quality. I don’t have the vocabulary or dance knowledge to judge. However, it is different in its sustained pace. The dancing is sublime.

Romeo a Juliet, Ballet Clywd, Poole Lighthouse

Thank goodness we are a long way from the Royal Ballet uniformly sized dancers of fifty years ago. The differences in height and build were a major plus, with such a tall Tybalt (James Knott) and Mercutio (Mika George Evans) – both outstanding too. Then Gwenllian Davies as Juliet was small, Kamal Singh as Paris was even smaller, but he could still do all the lifts. Robbie Moorcroft as Capulet and Isobel Holland as Lady Capulet were large for ballet- and totally superb too. Jakob Myers was Romeo, and a perfect Romeo too.

We loved it. Most memorable scenes were the two Mercutio / Tybalt fights … you could hear the swords clang metallically when they were dropped on stage too … and the final scene where Romeo dances holding the dead and totally limp Juliet. How did she do that?

California Connections by York Dance Project, Theatre Royal Winchester

I can’t judge dance well enough to give a star rating. he three pioneering women are Isadora Duncan, Martha Graham and Bela Lewitzky. Probably a five though.

The evening was a privilege for the too few who saw it. A great insight into history as well as spectacularly disciplined and inspired dancing.

Director of The Year

Justin Audibert, the new Chichester Artistic Director for two x 5 star reviews.

Five memorable actress performances

Sharon D. Clarke as Lady Bracknell, Importance of Being Earnest, National Theatre

Rosie Sheehy, Puck, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, RSC

Tamsin Grieg, Hester, The Deep Blue Sea, Bath Ustinov

Emer McDaid as Marianne Faithful, Redlands, Chichester

Kate Fleetwood as Beatrice Carbone, A View From The Bridge, London

Five memorable actor performances

Simon Lipkin as Fagin in Oliver! Chichester

Hugh Skinner & Ncuti Gatwa (jointly) as Jack and Algernon in The Importance of Being Earnest, National. Also double act of the year.

Oliver Chris as Freddie in The Deep Blue Sea, Bath Ustinov

Trevor Fox as Jacques in As You Like It, RSC Garden Theatre

Dominic West as Eddie Carbone in A View From The Bridge

Set Design

It’s hard to choose. Some candidates are below. I reckon Joanna Scotcher’s Love’s Labours Lost for sheer style.

Joanna Scotcher, Love’s Labours Lost, RSC

Lez Brotherton, Oliver! Chichester

Stephen Brimson Lewis, The Caretaker, Chichester

Rob Howell, The Hills of California, London

Theatre of The Year

Three are easily at the top of the list, and none of them are in London.

Chichester Festival theatre / Minerva Theatre wins again. Production quality, ambience, original plays, seating, car parking and theatre restaurant.

Then there’s the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. Points for adding two theatres, The Garden Theatre for the summer and re-opening The Other Place.

A couple of lesser productions early on, but they would have been conceived and booked by the outgoing directors.

However, they both have serious competition from Bath’s tiny and extraordinarily uncomfortable Ustinov Studio.

There was a five star Deep Blue Sea with Tamsin Grieg and Oliver Chris, then Dominic West’s A View from The Bridge started there, though we saw the London transfer- we couldn’t get in at Bath. Add a decent Birthday Party, then David Morrisey and Matthew “Gavin” Horne in The Lover / The Collection. The Ustinov is punching well above its weight and size, and attracts A-list theatre actors. Then they have had superb dance theatre on that small stage too. They can only do reasonably short plays because it really is so uncomfortable, but quality gets you through.